Research Ethics in Psychology

1
Research Ethics in Psychology
2
Some History

• APA Guidelines developed in 1973
• Revised again in 1982 and 2002
• Broad context of ethical concerns- research with
  humans- research with animals- scientific
  integrity- professional conduct - clinical
  relationships - student/teacher relationships

3
Consultation

• IRB Institutional Review Board
• IACUC Institutional Animal Care and Use
  Committee
• Evaluation of risk-benefit ratio

4
Ethics with Humans

• Informed consent
• - dispensing with informed consent -
  deception - using minors in research
• Assessment of risk - minimal risk
  participants - vulnerable populations
• Protection from harm
• Freedom to withdraw
• Correction of harm
• Debriefing
• Confidentiality

5
Ethics with Animals

• Compliance with law
• Researcher competence with species
• Training of assistants
• Minimize discomfort
• Justify unavoidable discomfort use only when
  necessary
• Perform surgery under appropriate anesthesia
• Euthanize humanely
• ANIMAL RIGHTS versus ANIMAL WELFARE

6
Scientific Integrity

• Faking
• Fudging
• Plagiarism
• - direct copying
• - close paraphrasing
• - claiming ideas as own
• - secondary sources
• Credit for work- order of authorship
• - duplicate presentation/publication

7
A Weird Thought Experiment.